How is my internship adapting to working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
I was hired on by the District Attorney in my hometown. Currently, employees are still considered essential services, because much of the information that employees are handling is sensitive information and as a result, cannot always be taken home.
For the interns, we are given the option to work from home or come into the office, at our discretion. However, while within the office, all employees are expected to use hand sanitizer regularly, wash our hands frequently with soap and water, and wear masks at all times. We are also all spaced at least six feet apart when there is not an opportunity to place everyone in their own office.
Furthermore, not every employee is coming into the office every day and as such, there are far fewer employees in the office. When an employee does not want to come into the office, they work remotely, through an app known as Microsoft Teams and they also utilize OneDrive. This allows them to complete work-related tasks at home, without downloading content to their personal computers.
For an extra measure of security, employees who wish to work from home, but handle sensitive material are given laptops issued by the District Attorney’s office in order to prevent any crossover between work files and personal information. My supervisor personally prefers going into the office because he feels as though he gets more work done now than he does when he works from home. I share this sentiment, as sometimes family or roommates can easily pull me away from my work when I am working from home.
Katherine Nocon
WSS Student Contributor